


Just Let The Feeling Grow

by mccolfer



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M, brief appearance from bowie, everyone hates jandi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 15:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15609381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mccolfer/pseuds/mccolfer
Summary: Buffy and TJ compete to see who Cyrus likes better, it gets a little weird.





	Just Let The Feeling Grow

**Author's Note:**

> Hewwo, it's finally my time to publish an Andi Mack fic. In July 2017, I started writing a Jyrus fic where Jonah has panic attacks, and I thought I was just so original, then the show literally STOLE my idea. Then I lost interest in Jyrus because Tyrus was offered to me and it's just... so much better. So the 20k words I had written for that fic are now thrown in the garbage because I have no interest in writing the other ~5k words that I'd still had to write from the original outline. But, all hope was not lost, I am 20 years old and I will write about these middle schoolers! 
> 
> Cyrus Goodman is so important to me, not only because I actually came out as bi in middle school so it's very personal, but because he is revolutionizing television. Yeah, we don't get to see as much of his storyline as we deserve, but the fact that it even exists is something we should be grateful for. He's going to be the start of many, many more characters. I never expected Jyrus to happen, but TJ being introduced actually gives me hope for Cyrus actually getting a boyfriend when I truly thought that would be asking for too much. 
> 
> The title is from [Adante, Adante](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQRC-xUgVQ) specifically from the Mamma Mia 2 soundtrack, because that's who I am right now. Also, The Name of the Game is about Tyrus. Okay, enough author's note, read the fic.

“Well, at least Cyrus likes me better than you!”

TJ wasn’t exactly sure how he ended up at this point, shouting something so bold at Buffy, he didn’t even know if he fully believed it to be true. It just sort of… came out.

He’d apologized to her a little over a month ago when she moved back to Shadyside and they’d actually grown to become kind of friends? Technically, frenemies was a better term for it. They tolerated each other most of the time, but honestly, they just enjoyed each other’s company more when they were competing. It was far more lighthearted now, but it was a good way for them both to fill their competitive needs without bothering their less aggressive friends. Buffy had actually missed having a friend to play sports with, now without the added complication of Marty’s feelings for her. She knew for sure that _TJ_ would never like her.

But, there TJ was, picking a fight that was way more serious than a game of HORSE in the park. Which was the reason why they were hanging out in the first place. The game was briefly interrupted so they could argue about… something and now, somehow, this is what they were talking about.

“You really must be out of your mind.” Buffy replied, her statement was meant to sound teasing, but her tone was far too dark.

“Why?” TJ asked, “It’s true.” It was like he couldn’t stop himself from saying these things, even though he knew he should just shut up. This was only going to lead to trouble.

Buffy scoffed, crossing her arms. “You keep telling yourself that, buddy.”

“Why don’t we bet on it?” TJ didn’t really appreciate her unwavering confidence. Even if she’d known Cyrus for years and he’d only been around for a couple months, TJ still felt like she couldn’t act like he wasn’t one of Cyrus’ best friends. She didn’t even know the true depth of their relationship.

“Unnecessary.” She replied simply, “I can already tell you I’d win.”

“Well, if you’re so sure, then what’s stopping you?” TJ challenged.

Buffy bit her lip hesitantly, she knew TJ was baiting her, “I would never put Cyrus in that position… again.”

“Obviously, we’re not going to actually make him choose.” TJ said, shaking his head.

Buffy frowned, confused, “Then how would you expect to choose a winner?”

“A point system.” TJ explained, “We have one week and every time we do something nice for him, we get a point.”

“Bonus points if we can actually get him to choose one of us over the other.” Buffy added, now suddenly fully on board and actively excited about this bet. She truly couldn’t resist a challenge.

“You got a bet.” TJ agreed, holding out his hand for her to shake.

She accepted his handshake, as firmly as possible, “I look forward to beating you.”

TJ just smirked, he looked forward to at least making her realize that he was actually a good friend… at least when it came to Cyrus anyway.

* * *

An opportunity to act on their newly formed bet arose far sooner than either of the two anticipated. They finished up their game in the park, Buffy winning but only just barely, and were walking home together when they spotted Cyrus sitting alone on the bench in front of Red Rooster. He seemed to be writing something down frantically.

TJ looked over to Buffy, only to find she was already looking back at him. They both turned to look at Cyrus again, then each other once more. She then took off into a sprint.

“Hey, no fair!” TJ yelled after her, starting to run too even though he knew she was way faster than him. By the time he got to the bench, Buffy was already sat next to Cyrus.

“Buffy, I’m glad you’re here!” Cyrus was saying, looking up just in time to see the taller boy approach the bench. “And TJ too?”

“Hey… Underdog...” TJ greeted, panting from his run. Buffy looked smug as ever as she had her breathing completely under control.

“Were you two… together?” Cyrus asked, looking between the two, confused.

Buffy shrugged, “I was just kicking his butt in a game of HORSE.”

“Horse.” Cyrus repeated.

TJ grinned, explaining, “It’s a basketball thing.”

“Right…” Cyrus nodded slowly, “So, anyway, it’s a good thing you’re here Buffy, I actually need your help.”

Buffy’s smug smirk grew to a full on evil grin, “Anything for you, my dear friend Cyrus.”

Cyrus’ brow furrowed at her unusually sweet tone, but he had more important things to worry about. “I need help picking a birthday present for Andi.”

“Her birthday isn’t until September, Cyrus.” She dropped the sweet act almost immediately.

“I know,” Cyrus implored, looking a little embarrassed, “I just want it to be perfect!”

“Well, I think it’s nice that you’re so thoughtful to your friends.” TJ butt in, sending one of his most charming smiles Cyrus’ way.

He gave TJ a bemused smile in return, “Thanks…”

“Of course, I’ll still help!” Buffy quickly insisted, leaning over to read Cyrus’ notebook. “What do you have so far?”

“Here,” Cyrus said, giving her the notebook. He looked up at TJ, who was still standing. “Dude, why don’t you sit down?” He scooted closer to Buffy, opening up the smallest amount of space between him and the arm of the bench. “Buffy, c’mon.”

“Does he _have_ to?” Buffy groaned, pointedly holding her bag next to her so there was no room on the bench.

“Yes.” Cyrus insisted, scooting even closer to her so she had no choice but to move or allow him to invade her personal space. Buffy really liked personal space, so she relented.

“How about we ask Ham and Cece to let us into AndiShack and we’ll try to figure out what supplies she needs?” Buffy offered, as if we she was purposefully talking about things TJ wouldn’t understand.

Cyrus shook his head, “I don’t want to just get her something she could get herself.”

“What if we do something nice for her and Jonah? Like rent out the whole Spoon for the night?”

Cyrus cringed, “Do you think they’ll still be dating in September?”

“True...”

“Andi had those shoes that guy made her, right?” TJ asked suddenly, he remembered Cyrus telling him that whole story when they escaped from the drama that was happening that day at The Spoon. “Why don’t you make her a pair she can actually wear?”

“Hey, that’s a really good idea!” Cyrus exclaimed, smiling widely at the boy next to him.

Buffy huffed out a sigh, “But we’re not creative like Andi is, how are we going to come up with a design?”

“Yeah…” Cyrus noticeably deflated, “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m sure Andi would love anything you guys make her,” TJ shrugged, awkwardly moving his arm to place on the back of the bench, behind Cyrus. It wasn’t like he wanted to put his arm around him or anything, he was just uncomfortable with his arm crushed up against the other boy. “even if they don’t look as good as the other shoes.”

“You’re right.” Cyrus perked up again, turning to a fresh page in his notebook “Let’s start brainstorming!”

Behind Cyrus, TJ tapped Buffy’s shoulder, holding up two fingers. A point for helping Cyrus and a bonus point for having his idea chosen over Buffy’s. Things were off to a great start for TJ.

* * *

“I’ve done my waiting! Twelve years of it! In Hashkabrown!” Cyrus mock yelled in his Sirius Black baby tater voice, moving quickly to pick up Herfryone so she could react but finding that she wasn’t where he left her. Instead, she was in Andi’s hand, then subsequently her mouth.

“Emergency!” She said immediately, taking a seat unceremoniously next to Cyrus. “Jonah said—“

“Hey, he was in the middle of something.” TJ interrupted, indicating the entire intricate Tater Theater scene Cyrus has set out on the table. “I want to know the end of Harry Potater and the Prisoner of Haskabrown.”

Andi looked both shocked at being interrupted and confused by what TJ was saying. She turned to Cyrus who was just looking down at his lap sheepishly, his face slowly turning red.

“Sorry, I…” Honestly, she thought she’d be saving TJ from another one of Cyrus’ far too drawn out recreations of movies everyone has already seen, but she couldn’t exactly say that. “You finish up, I’m gonna get a milkshake, I guess.”

Awkwardly, she stood up from the booth and made her way to the counter.

TJ once again turned all his attention to Cyrus, grabbing one of his own baby taters and offering it to the other boy, “Here, to replace the one she ate.”

Cyrus slowly reached out to take the tater, “You… didn’t have to do that, you know.”

“I mean, it was kind of rude for her to just burst in and interrupt you to start talking about herself, wasn’t it?” He said bluntly.

“I mean, it’s not like what I was doing was important…” Cyrus chuckled with self-deprecation. “I’m surprised you didn’t stop me sooner, I normally never get that close to the end.”

“Well, I was having a good time until she came in.” TJ insisted, “I swear every time I see her, she’s talking about that Jonah kid. Doesn’t it get a bit old?”

“I mean, Andi’s my best friend. So even if things do get a bit repetitive, I want to help her.” Cyrus said, sitting up in his seat for the first time since Andi came in.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t help her. I just feel like if she’s having so much trouble with her relationship, maybe it really isn’t all that worth it.”

As TJ’s suggestion hung in the air, Andi made her way back to the table, now with a basket of fresh baby taters and a chocolate milkshake in hands.

“Hey, you were at the scene in the Shrieking Shack right?” Cyrus nodded with a grin in response. “Can you start over? I love that scene.”

Excitedly, Cyrus took her peace offering of fresh taters and reset his scene. Andi and TJ couldn’t help but share a smile at the sight of their enthusiastic friend.

* * *

Buffy hated being in Cyrus’ house. Both of his parents worked from home, so the entire first floor was basically a therapist office. To make matter worse, Cyrus was running late, and he _knew_ how much Buffy hated waiting. Then her phone chimed with what she _hoped_ was a text from Cyrus apologizing, but instead was a score update from TJ. Which meant Cyrus was late because he was with _him_.

When Buffy made this bet, she did not expect it to even be a challenge. There’s no way TJ could just be nice to Cyrus all the time, right? It just wasn’t in his nature. It wasn’t like he was _just_ mean to Buffy, he was mean to everyone, Marty told her that.

Marty…

Days without thinking about Marty was officially back at zero. Not that she had gotten very far anyway. Talking about him with her mom and Andi telling her about how he gave her shoelaces to put in the time capsule kind of rekindled some of her very confusing feelings about the boy. Then when Andi mentioned he had a girlfriend, it made her feel _really_ jealous. Like way more jealous than she was anticipating. Maybe she did only like him as a friend at first, but now things were different.

“I’m so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sorry I’m late!” Cyrus said as soon as he came in through his own front door and saw Buffy sitting on one of the lumpy waiting room couches. He braced himself for her rage.

She sighed, standing up, “It’s fine. Let’s get going?”

“Wait, it’s _fine_?” He asked incredulously, Buffy never dropped a grudge that quickly. “Who are you and what have you done with Buffy?”

Buffy rolled her eyes, “It’s just fine, Cyrus. Come on, we’re gonna be late.”

“We can’t be late for clothes shopping.” Cyrus argued, but nevertheless followed her out the door, locking it on his way out.

“Well technically, we can, if we got there after the store closed.”

“Yeah, well, the stores aren’t going to close at 2 in the afternoon.”

“Can you please stop looking at me like that?”

Cyrus had been staring her down nonstop since they exited his house, she’s surprised he hadn’t tripped yet.

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s wrong.” Cyrus explained, then, as if on cue, he tripped. He grabbed onto Buffy’s shoulder so he wouldn’t lose his balance. “I don’t understand how they can just let one piece of the sidewalk be slightly higher than the whole rest of the sidewalk!”

Buffy giggled at his outrage.

“I think I deserve to know what’s bothering you now, since I’m here providing you with free entertainment.”

“ _Nothing_ is bothering me.” Buffy insisted.

“This is about your crush isn’t it?” Cyrus gasped.

Buffy groaned, placing her hand on her face. “No.”

“It _is_!” Cyrus was practically jumping up and down. Why he was so enthused by her crush, Buffy will never know.

But… he was happy. She was making him happy. Doing something nice for him. A chance for her to score some points over TJ.

“Okay, you caught me.” Buffy relented, trying to figure out how she was going to reveal a little about her crush without mentioning who it was. She just knew if either Andi or Cyrus found out, they wouldn’t rest until Marty knew. And he was already off with his new girlfriend, she didn’t need to bother him anymore than she already had.

“Are you finally gonna tell me who it is?”

Buffy scoffed, “You wish.”

“What if I guess, will you tell me if I get it right?”

“No.”

“Will you at least give me a hint?” Cyrus begged, actually holding his hands together as he pleaded.

“Okay, you can ask me questions and I will answer some of them if I feel comfortable.” Buffy finally said, already knowing she was going to regret this.

“Yes!” Cyrus actually jumped in victory. Buffy shook her head, but the fond grin on her face exposed her true feelings. Her best friend was adorable. “Okay, is he our age?”

“About, yes.” Buffy answered.

“Okay, so that crosses off Andi’s dad…” Cyrus mumbled to himself.

“Excuse me!” Buffy’s mouth dropped open in shock. “ _Bowie_?”

“Okay, don’t tell me he isn’t cute. I have it on good authority.” Cyrus defended. Buffy filed away that little tidbit for further blackmail use. “Besides, just because you have a crush doesn’t mean it has to be on someone who is obtainable.”

“Well, when I have a crush, it _does_ mean that.” Buffy insisted, crossing her arms, “I don’t like to waste my energy.”

“ _Really_?” Cyrus revelled in the new hint. But Buffy knew that wouldn’t really get him very far. “Is it someone that I know? Like someone I’ve actually spoken to at least a couple times?”

“...Yes.” Buffy answered hesitantly. That wasn’t too revealing, right?

“So, obviously we have our suspects, Jonah and Walker.” Cyrus glanced at Buffy to see if she had any reaction to those names, but she had a flawless poker face. "Is it... Gus?"

"You caught me. It's Gus." Buffy deadpanned. 

Cyrus frowned, "Alright, no need to be rude about it."

"I'm sorry, do _you_  have a crush on Gus?"

"Well, let's not get carried away here..."

The two of them laughed but Cyrus was quickly back to thinking. Buffy could practically hear his brain turning. 

Suddenly, he stopped walking. “It’s not…” He started, then hesitated, whispering. “It’s not TJ, is it?”

Buffy aimed a punch at his arm at about 50% strength. “Cyrus, who exactly do you think I _am_?”

“I’m sorry! We only talk to like five guys on a regular basis!” Cyrus cried, then he gasped. “Is it… not a boy?”

“Sorry, it is.” It almost broke Buffy’s heart to have to tell him he was wrong, but it would be worse to let him get his hopes up. Cyrus nodded, a hint of disappointment on his face as he started walking again.

“So, you’ve outright denied TJ, but refuse to say anything about Jonah or Walker.” Cyrus considered, “That either means it _is_ TJ, or it _really_ isn’t.”

“It **_really_ ** isn’t.” Buffy was about ready to just stop all this hiding once and for all if Cyrus was going to keep implying that she would ever have a crush on _TJ_.

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it.” Cyrus agreed, “But, you know, he really isn’t _that_ bad.” Buffy raised her fist, ready to go for 100% strength. He quickly revised his statement, “But I do respect that you could never have a crush on someone who treated you the way he did, even if he did apologize.”

“I think that’s enough crush talk for today.” Buffy said, she was reaching her vulnerability quota for the day. The crush was honestly something she just wanted to keep for herself.

Cyrus pouted, “Aw, wait, let me have one more question.”

“Fine.” She indulged.

“This might sound kind of crazy but, is it Marty?”

Buffy left her heart rate spike, but she kept her face neutral. “Don’t be silly, he has a girlfriend.”

“But you aren’t saying no.” Cyrus singsonged.

“Look, we’re here.” Buffy said abruptly, pointing ahead at the store they were on their way to. She picked up her pace, essentially walking away from Cyrus. Fortunately, he got the hint and dropped the crush talk, but he did have a grin on his face the entire time they shopped.

Buffy ended up giving herself like three points for the whole excursion. That way she was tied with TJ. Now all she had to do for the rest of the week was just never let them be alone together and make sure Cyrus always sided with her. Easy.

* * *

For once this week, TJ actually wasn’t even seeking Cyrus out, he honestly just wanted to buy some records. He stood outside Red Rooster sifting through the bargain bin for a good ten minutes before finally finding worthwhile, an ABBA album he could gift his mother for her birthday. The amount of times that TJ had been forced to watch Mamma Mia with his mother growing up was honestly, staggering.

When he went inside to buy the record, he was surprised to find Cyrus and Andi inside. They seemed to be having a funny conversation with the guy behind the counter. It was the dude that was usually working, with the curly hair. TJ was moderately familiar with him, though not enough to know his name.

“TJ!” Cyrus called out as he looked over to the taller boy just hovering in the doorway. Andi and the curly haired dude seemed to share a look that TJ didn’t understand. “What brings you around these parts?”

“Hey, Underdog! Andi.” TJ greeted, finally closing the door and bringing the case to his ABBA record over to the register. “There’s only like three places to hang out around this town, so I figured I’d try to find my mom a birthday present.” He displayed the record in question for them all to see.

“Ooh, nice choice, my man!” The curly haired dude exclaimed, reaching out to grab it.

TJ easily handed it over, “I figured she can actually listen to the real songs instead of forcing the whole family to rewatch Mamma Mia every other week.”

“Aren’t they making a sequel to it too?” The guy asked as he went to another room, presumably to get the actual record.

“It’s actually out in theaters right now, I was thinking about taking her as part of her birthday present.” TJ explained. Andi gave him a weird look from where she was sitting on a stool behind the counter.

“Oh my god, she’s gonna absolutely love it!” Cyrus gushed, “Buffy, Andi, and I saw it opening night and afterwards my face hurt from smiling.”

TJ grinned at just the thought of seeing Cyrus so happy. He kind of wished he was invited to go with them just so he could have seen that.

“Here is your record, sir.” The curly haired dude said as he finally returned from the other room. “Sorry, those bargain records are always buried pretty deep.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that all these records are just empty cases?” Cyrus suddenly asked, rushing to grab a Pink Floyd album that was on display, curiously turning it over in his hands.

“Just the ones outside.” TJ answered before the curly haired dude could. Again, earning a weird look from Andi.

“What he said,” The curly haired dude agreed, “otherwise, what’s stopping someone from just taking off with one?”

“I guess you’re right.” Cyrus nodded, putting back the Pink Floyd vinyl way more carefully than he picked it up, now knowing there was actually a record in there.

“Do you come here a lot, TJ?” Andi asked, which kind of threw TJ for a loop. Though he’d gotten closer with Cyrus and his friends, Andi never really bothered to talk to him. He mostly just interacted with Buffy and Cyrus. Honestly, TJ was pretty convinced Andi was physically only able to focus on Jonah all the time.

TJ shrugged in response, “Yeah, my parents are pretty old school. We always listened to records growing up, it’s just kind of normal for us.”

“That’s awesome, man!” The curly haired dude said excitedly, “It’s truly tragic to watch all these ways we used to listen to music become obsolete. Like, even CDs are dying, when I was your age, I was so sure my CD collection would be my most prized possession for my entire life. Now people see a bunch of CDs as a pile of junk.”

Before TJ could reply, the cowbell on the door jingled and Andi, Cyrus, _and_ the curly haired dude all perked up.

“Hey! Buffy, Jonah!” He called out. Who exactly was this man and his curly hair? Why did he know all these children? And more importantly, how did Buffy always seem to know exactly where both TJ and Cyrus were at all times these days?

“I was just walking by and I found this guy pacing around outside.” Buffy explained, clapping Jonah on the back a little too hard. He looked almost as bad as he did when TJ found him freaking out at Cyrus’ Bar Mitzvah. “I figured I’d convince him to come in and you two can talk.” She looked pointedly at Andi.

TJ was seriously so tired of those two. He’d only really known them for a couple months and he’s pretty sure they had an argument every single day. Cyrus and Buffy were always caught in the middle of it all. Why were they even dating if it stressed both of them out so much?

As Jonah and Andi went to talk, TJ turned to the curly haired dude, waiting for him to ring up his order. But the dude seemed very distracted by the not-so-quiet conversation the two _lovebirds_ were having.

“Uh, $25.” He said absentmindedly.

TJ already knew the price and had the money in his hands. He offered it to the dude, who slowly took it then didn’t do anything. Then TJ heard the telltale sound of Jonah storming out of the store and Andi following right behind him. This action seemed to only distracted the curly haired dude more.

“Hello?” TJ sighed, waving his hand in front of the dude’s face.

That seemed to snap him out of it. “Sorry, uh, your total is $25?”

“I already gave you the money.” TJ replied, pointing at the cash literally in the guy’s hand.

“Right! Sorry,” He shook his head, placing the cash in the register.

TJ didn’t even _want_ to know why he was so concerned with some middle schoolers’ drama. He just wanted his record, and maybe to grab Cyrus and go somewhere else. He glanced to his left only to find that Cyrus was no longer leaning against the counter like he was before. TJ looked around and spotted him over by some instruments with Buffy.

“Oh,” He heard Cyrus say as he noticed TJ looking at him, “I’ll see you later TJ, I have to go help Buffy with something!”

Buffy shot TJ a smirk as she followed Cyrus out of the store, holding up her index finger to indicate a bonus point for her.

TJ huffed out a sigh as the cowbell on the door jingled once more. Now he was all alone with the curly haired dude. Who was smiling super weirdly at him as he held TJ’s record.

“So… you and Cyrus, huh?”

Okay, why was the curly haired dude talking to him now? “Um, do I know you?”

“Oh! Right!” The guy chuckled, brushing his hair out of his face, “I’m Andi’s dad! You can call me Bowie!”

TJ nodded slowly, he remembered kids at school talking about how Andi’s sister was really her mom and her mom was her grandmom or whatever. He didn’t really pay attention, it was none of his business.

“Andi has told me about you.” Bowie said as he carefully placed the ABBA album into a plastic bag. “About the other day with Cyrus. She said she didn’t get why you were acting like that, why someone like you would treat Cyrus so nicely.”

“Do you always offer advice to random middle schoolers?” TJ snarked, not really interested in this dude psychoanalyzing him.

Bowie laughed, “Actually, kind of yeah.” He placed TJ’s record down on the counter, making it so TJ couldn’t leave unless he wanted to ditch his purchase. “Look, I know I’m just some stranger to you, but I've been where you are... trust me."

If he was implying what he thought TJ was implying... that didn't really make sense to him. "Aren't you Andi's  _dad_?"

"Um, yeah?" Bowie replied, not really following TJ's train of thought.

"How... if you supposedly "understand" what I'm "going through"?" TJ asked, aggressively throwing up finger quotes.

Bowie just laughed, "You know you don't have to like only boys or only girls, right? Just do whatever feels right, my man."

TJ pondered that for a moment. Whatever he had with Cyrus certainly did feel right, more so than anything else in his life.

"But, anyway," Bowie continued, "I think it’s really nice to see Cyrus have someone like you in his life. I love that little dude and I can tell you he’s gotten a whole lot better since you showed up.” With that, Bowie finally relinquished the ABBA record to a now very contemplative TJ.

He took the bag hesitantly, he was going to have a lot to think about on his walk home. But in the end, it didn’t really matter what he felt anyway.

* * *

Once Buffy started getting really into their bet, it became borderline impossible for TJ to find a chance to be alone with Cyrus. It wasn't even about the bet anymore, he literally just wanted to hang out with the other boy. He was immensely frustrated, sometimes he just wanted to be with his friend without having to worry about Buffy breathing down his neck or Andi and Jonah being all weird.

He finally managed to find a chance to invite Cyrus to the park without Buffy knowing, by some miracle.

“We can finally cross another thing off your list!” TJ was enthusiastically explaining as they walked from the park entrance towards the basketball courts. He looked to his side and found Cyrus smiling softly at him, so he smiled right back.

Ever since he taught the other boy how to do a somersault, TJ had taken it upon himself to help cross off as many things as he could off the list of easy things Cyrus couldn’t do. They were slowly but surely making progress, and TJ honestly really liked being able to help him. Especially since Cyrus had already done so much for him, he really just wanted to show his gratitude.

“Ah, so you want to try for “shoot a basketball” today.” Cyrus said as they got closer to the courts.

“The term is more like “shoot a basket”, but we can work on that too.”

There were two public basketball courts separated by chain link fence at their local park. TJ pretty much knew everyone who used them, because it was mostly kids from the basketball team. He knew no one would be out there this early in the morning, which would undoubtedly make Cyrus feel better.

“And who better to teach you than the future star of the high school basketball team?” TJ bragged, unzipping his gym bag to pull out his basketball he brought from home. Maybe it was kind of silly, but he felt like the basketball was special. It had just the right amount of air in it and it was a faded red, white, and blue and it had kind of helped him through a lot of hard times. Going outside and shooting some hoops on the basket his dad had installed over their garage was sometimes the only place TJ could find peace, besides the swingset with Cyrus. He almost never brought his own basketball to the park, always asking for someone else to bring theirs. But Cyrus deserved only the best.

“I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever even held a basketball before.” Cyrus said with a laugh as TJ offered his most prized possession to him.

The taller boy snorted, “You have to have, right? I mean, there are basketball units in gym.”

“You underestimate my ability to avoid doing anything in gym ever.” Cyrus said, still just holding the ball. He wasn’t even making any attempt to bounce it or anything.

“Why don’t we start with some dribbling?” TJ offered, not wanting to jump straight into the intimidating part.

Cyrus wiped his mouth, “Am I drooling?”

“I genuinely can’t tell if you’re joking.” TJ said with a chuckle.

“I am but I also don’t know what dribbling is.”

“Don’t worry, it’s just bouncing the ball.” TJ explained, “Basically, any time you move, you have to be dribbling. Otherwise that’s called traveling which is a foul.”

“Ah, that makes sense. I always wondered why you guys were constantly bouncing.” Cyrus nodded, but he had yet to let go of the ball. “So I just… bounce it?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Cyrus raised the ball over his head and threw it onto the ground, bouncing the ball as high as he possibly could. They both looked up at the ball in the air, then it started coming back down.

“Ahh!” Cyrus yelped, covering his face with his arms and ducking down.

Luckily, TJ had quick reflexes, he reached out and caught the ball before it hit his friend.

“Okay, so you don’t _just_ bounce it.” TJ said, shaking his head with a laugh. Cyrus carefully looked at him from behind his arm shield, only lowering them when he noticed TJ had the ball in his hands.

“I was just following your instructions.” Cyrus exclaimed, “You need to talk to me as if I’ve never heard of sports in my life.”

“I just can’t believe you went to so many games and you don’t have at least a basic understanding of it.” TJ teased, letting the ball drop from his hands and starting to dribble it absentmindedly.

“I just can’t believe you’re doing that without even looking at the ball!” Cyrus retorted. “So, is this your so called “dribbling” then?”

“Yes,”

“Why is it called that?”

“I… guess I don’t know.” TJ furrowed his brow, he never really thought of that.

“I’ll search!” Cyrus quickly whipped his phone out of his pocket.

TJ just as quickly stopped dribbling and grabbed the phone from his hands. “Enough stalling. You shouldn’t even have your phone on you, it might fall out of your pocket and get broken.”

“You don’t seriously expect me to do like physical activity today, right?” Cyrus asked with a grimace. He pouted as TJ carefully placed his phone into his gym bag.

“If you want to shoot a basket, you’ll probably have to at least jump.” TJ explained, bouncing the ball in Cyrus’ direction with no warning.

To his surprise, and Cyrus’ for that matter, the other boy actually caught it. Albeit the catch was accompanied by an almost terrified shriek and his hands were definitely up just to defend himself, but what mattered was that he caught it.

“Hey! Look at you, Underdog!”

“I caught it!” Cyrus beamed with pride, reminding TJ why he loved helping the boy.

“Cyrus?” TJ’s mood sunk as he heard a female voice behind him, “I thought I heard you scream!”

“Buffy!” Cyrus said in response, waving at his friend with the basketball. “I caught the ball!”

In no time, Buffy was right next to them on the court, giving Cyrus a proud look and TJ her usual smug one.

“What are you doing here?” TJ asked, trying his best to sound polite.

“My mom and I were taking a walk in the park.” Buffy explained, pointing towards the direction she came from. Her mom waved as all three of them looked at her sitting on a bench, her phone in hand.

“Well, you should get back to that!” TJ suggested, giving her a fake smile.

Buffy fake smiled right back, “Oh, I think she’ll be fine on her phone for a bit. Why don’t I help you with Cyrus? You trying to check “shoot a basketball” off his list?”

TJ felt his stomach churn at the mention of the list. He knew Buffy and Andi knew about it, they had even helped him make it apparently. But he still couldn’t help but think of the list as something between him and Cyrus. Especially because he was seemingly the only one who actually wanted to help Cyrus do the things on the list, while Andi and Buffy were content to just hold him back.

“I think I can handle it, actually.” TJ insisted.

Cyrus was clearly very uncomfortable between them. “Come on guys, you’re both my basketball stars, you can both help!” He offered the ball to Buffy, who quickly swiped it and started bouncing it.

TJ grit his teeth, really not wanting Buffy to touch his basketball. He was cool with her now and all, but he honestly didn’t even let his parents touch the ball. It was _special_.

“Well, I was the captain, so I think I’m a little more qualified.” He snapped, snatching the ball out of midair and holding it to his chest.

“ _Well_ ,” Buffy countered, “I was actually the star player of two teams, here and in Phoenix, so maybe I have more experience.” She tried to grab the ball from him again, but his grip did not falter for a second.

“Guys, guys, come on, I thought we were past this.” Cyrus said anxiously. His tone quickly snapped Buffy and TJ out of their heated staring contest.

One meaningful look from Cyrus later, TJ had somehow let go of his basketball and allowed Buffy to take it. He didn’t know when he got so whipped, but here he was.

It didn’t take very long for another argument to come up. In their defense though, Buffy and TJ always argued over basketball, even when they were playing alone and Cyrus wasn’t at stake. It was kind of their thing.

“Just aim for the corner of that square and it’ll rebound into the net every time.” Buffy was telling Cyrus, pointing to the net.

“Don’t teach him a shortcut!” TJ sneered, “He wants to learn how to shoot a real basket!”

“Well, sometimes you need to work up to that point!”

“Don’t listen to her, Underdog.” TJ insisted, “I want you to bend your knees and jump, and at the height of your jump, you shoot the ball. Make sure to flick your wrist like this,” He demonstrated exactly how Cyrus should be shooting.

“You can’t just expect him to be able to make a regular shot right away!” Buffy argued, stopping Cyrus as he started to bend down. “He’s not like you! He has like negative experience and he’s much shorter and weaker.”

“How many times have I told you not to tell Cyrus what he can’t do?” TJ was getting pretty sick of seeing Cyrus’ friends baby him like that. He was capable of so much more if they would just encourage him.

“She’s kind of right, though. Isn’t she?” Cyrus mumbled nervously. He seriously felt like he had an angel and a devil on his shoulders arguing, except they were both devils.

“No, she’s _not_ actually.” TJ said, looking directly at Buffy. “You can do whatever you put your mind to.”

“I’m not saying he _can’t_ , I just don’t see what’s so wrong about starting slow and working up to that point!”

“Alright, so you two are acting really weird and I’m getting kind of tired of it so I’m just gonna go.” Cyrus dropped the ball abruptly and made a beeline to TJ bag so he could grab his phone.

“Wait, Cyrus!”

“Don’t go, hey!”

But Buffy and TJ’s protests fell on deaf ears. Until Cyrus turned around to say one thing.

“If you two want to fight, that’s fine by me but I don’t need to be in the middle of it all.”

They watched in silence as their friend walked away.

“So…" Buffy said awkwardly, "I guess no one is getting any points today, huh?”

* * *

“What?” Cyrus asked as Buffy scoffed at her phone for about the fourth time since they sat down on his couch.

“Nothing, I just can’t believe TJ really thinks he’s winning.”

“Winning at what?”

Buffy stopped dead in her tracks. She did _not_ mean to say that to Cyrus, she was just feeling so smug and couldn’t help but brag. Curse her narcissism.

“Nothing.” She answered quickly, locking her phone and shoving it under her thigh for safe keeping.

Cyrus gave her a look, “What’s going on between you two lately? I thought you had a truce.”

“Cyrus…” The disappointment in his voice broke her heart. “Of course we do. We hardly ever fight anymore.”

“But all week you guys have been super weird and aggressive around each other. Did something happen?”

Buffy frowned, she felt guilty for lying to Cyrus while they were literally having a competition to see who could be nicer to Cyrus. The irony was palpable.

“We wanted to know which one of us you liked better.” Buffy blurted out. She almost wanted to add more to the statement to defend herself, but a small part of her was kind of hoping Cyrus would immediately choose her again like he did before.

“I can’t believe you guys would do this to me.” Cyrus stood up from the couch, shaking his head and looking more angry than Buffy had ever really seen him. “That’s why you’ve just been being super nice all the time? How would I even be able to accurately judge if you’re not acting like normal?”

“So, you would judge if we stopped sucking up to you?” Buffy asked, hope glimmering in her eyes.

“No!” Cyrus shot her down instantly. “Do you even realize how messed up this is? That’s like if you asked Andi to choose between you and Jonah.”

“Wait, why would it be like that?” Buffy asked, her eyebrows furrowing. Just what exactly was Cyrus implying?

“I don’t know like, my relationship with TJ is just _different_ than my relationship with you. I’ve known you forever and I only just met him, but I still feel close to both of you… just in a different way.”

“But why would you compare yourselves to Andi and Jonah of all people?”

“It’s just… the only example I can think of right now!” Cyrus was defending himself pretty sloppily and it was not getting past Buffy. “You’re like my _sister_ and he’s like… he’s like my…”

“Your _boyfriend_.” Buffy practically spat out.

Cyrus’ head shot up at those words, words he never thought he’d get to hear associated with himself. “Don’t… don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true.” Buffy said, crossing her arms as she stared Cyrus down.

“I-it’s not. TJ… doesn’t even like boys. He’d never like me. And I-I don’t like him! Because I’m not going to almost ruin another friendship with a guy with my _stupid_ feelings!”

As Cyrus’ face crumbled, so did Buffy’s resolve. She uncrossed her arms and reached out to pull Cyrus back down onto the couch, holding him close.

“Hey, you’re okay.” She murmured quietly, feeling worse and worse about herself for trying to make him choose. Even if that meant accepting the fact that Cyrus liked her former mortal enemy.

“Listen...” Buffy said as Cyrus finally started to calm down, “As much as I’m gonna hate saying this, you’d have to be dumb to think that TJ doesn’t like you back.”

“W-what?” Cyrus asked, wiping his tear stained face.

Buffy rolled her eyes, “Cyrus, he has been fighting with me literally all week about you liking him. He’s been texting me non-stop updates on the supposed “score”, you can look at my phone.” She offered the phone in question, opening it up to her conversation with TJ, “That boy is gone for you.”

Cyrus didn’t take her phone, instead arguing, “But you’ve been fighting back just as hard, does that mean you like me?”

“You said yourself that our relationship is different than your relationship with him.” Buffy shrugged, practically forcing her phone into Cyrus’ hands. She could tell that this was more than just a competition for TJ. She just wanted to win so she could say she won, there was nothing really at stake for her, but TJ was actually trying to prove something.

“This doesn’t mean anything,” Cyrus said as he reluctantly scrolled through some of the texts, “he’s just competitive and you challenged him.”

“ _He’s_ the one who started it.”

“I…” Cyrus tried to keep fighting but couldn’t seem to find words.

“Face it, Cy, he would do _anything_ for you. You went and got yourself a boyfriend without even realizing it.” She clapped down on his shoulder with pride, “I’d be proud of you if I wasn’t so disappointed in it being _TJ_ …”

Cyrus glared at her, as he always did when she attempted to shade his friend.

“But he’s definitely shown that he would treat you right at least. Certainly more than your last crush.”

“What a mess.” Cyrus groaned at the mention of Jonah, “I’m glad I didn’t tell him about all that when I finally told him I like boys. Is it bad that I kind of want to pretend all that never happened?”

“What do you mean?” Buffy frowned, she had been supportive when Cyrus said he didn’t want to mention the crush to Jonah, but she didn’t know he was so embarrassed about it.

“It was barely even a crush anyway,” Cyrus continued his contemplation, “more like I hero-worshiped him and never really thought it would go anywhere. I don’t even think I _wanted_ it to really…”

“Really?” Buffy kind of understood where he was coming from. Like how she liked Marty now, but she didn’t exactly want to go destroy his relationship with his girlfriend or anything. It was just something she could have.

“I guess I should be grateful that he helped me realize, but I just feel so mortified thinking about everything I used to do and think about him.”

“And _now_ , you have a crush on someone who actually likes you back.” Buffy concluded with excitement, wanting to get back to a more hopeful topic. “You _have_ to talk to him, text him, text him.”

“Alright, calm down, you keep saying he likes me but like… you have no real proof.”

“Cyrus, anyone with _eyes_ will tell you he likes you.” Buffy insisted, grabbing her phone, “Let’s see what our dear friend Andi thinks!”

“Wait, Buffy!” But before Cyrus could even make an attempt to stop her, she typed out her message and pressed sent.

“Do you think TJ likes Cyrus?” The white text surrounded by a blue bubble was taunting him. Even worse was when the gray dots appeared, almost instantly Andi was texting back.

“I didn’t want to say anything bc I knew you wouldn’t like it but… kind of yeah.”

“Jonah has even mentioned it too.”

Buffy showed the messages to Cyrus smugly, only for her phone to vibrate again shortly after.

“Why what’s going on?”

“Don’t tell her anything.” Cyrus immediately begged.

Buffy frowned, “Why not?”

“I don’t know, I feel... stupid.” He groaned, placing his head in his hands.

“You’re _not_ stupid, Cyrus.” Buffy placated, wrapping her arm around her friend again. “And Andi is your sister just like I am, don’t you think she deserves to know too? At least this time it’s not her boyfriend you have a crush on.”

Cyrus groaned once more into his hands. “I’m a disaster.”

“But you’re _our_ disaster.”

* * *

It took a full day for Andi and Buffy to finally convince Cyrus to talk to TJ, and he still refused to be the one to actually text the boy. Leaving Buffy to send TJ a cryptic message inviting him to The Spoon with no further explanation.

“I can’t do this.” Cyrus insisted as they sat in their booth waiting for TJ to arrive.

“Yes, you can.” Andi encouraged from across the table, next to her was Jonah smiling just as encouragingly. Cyrus had only just recently told him he liked boys, strategically leaving out which boy in particular he liked, but Jonah was just as supportive as Andi and Buffy had always been.

Next to Cyrus, Buffy had her hands on either of his shoulders, as if passing her confident energy onto him. But as soon as Andi noticed TJ approaching in the distance, all remaining sense of calm went out the window.

“I’m leaving!” Cyrus insisted, turning in his seat towards the back exit. But Buffy’s grip was strong, and Cyrus was weak.

“Hey, Underdog! What’s up?” TJ said as he saw the other boy in their normal booth, clearly excited to see him. “Why have you been ignoring me all day?”

“He knows.” Buffy said, immediate and blunt as most of her statements were.

“Knows what?” TJ asked, playing dumb in the hopes that maybe it was something else he knew about.

“About our bet.” Buffy further explained.

“You told him?!” TJ exclaimed, feeling like all the blood was exiting his body. He turned to Cyrus to start apologizing immediately, “Listen, I’m sorry. I would never actually make you choose, you know. Especially because I know I’d never win.”

That was a whole different tune than Buffy had been hearing all week, but somehow she believed him now more than ever. Something about Cyrus just made TJ want to actually be an honest and good person.

“TJ, can we talk outside?” Cyrus asked, sounding more sure of himself than he had all day. Almost as if just TJ’s presence made him more confident. Like they really brought out the best in each other.

“Why are they already the best relationship I’ve ever seen when they’re not even in one yet?” Andi said as soon as the door to The Spoon closed.

“Shh! I’m trying to read their lips!” Buffy whispered, staring down the two boys as they sat down on the bench outside The Spoon.

* * *

“I really am so, _so_ sorry, Underdog. But I want you to know everything I did this week was real.” TJ kept apologizing as they left the restaurant and made their way to the bench to sit.

“Turn a little bit.” Cyrus said, grabbing TJ’s shoulder to position him a specific way.

“Uh, why?”

“Because they’re watching us.” Cyrus explained, tilting his head towards the window where their friends were sitting. “Don’t look!” He exclaimed as TJ was about to turn back.

“Do they ever respect your privacy?” He asked instead.

Cyrus shrugged, “I mean, no but I also don’t really respect theirs so...”

TJ chucked, smiling that way that Cyrus never saw him do to anyone else.

“Okay, I guess I just have one question to ask…” Cyrus said, “Why do you even want me to like you?”

“What do you mean?” TJ frowned.

“Like, why did you teach me to get a muffin or help me swing higher or any of the other things on my list you helped me with? Why do you want to be my friend at all? Why did you get into a literal competition with Buffy over who could get me to like them more?” As Cyrus ranted, he refused to look up from his shoes, terrified at what he’d see if he looked at TJ’s face.

“I mean… is it not obvious?”

Slowly, Cyrus peeked out from behind his eyelashes, but TJ’s face showed no emotion. He’d completely closed himself off, which he hadn’t done to Cyrus in a long time.

“I, um, I guess it kind of is but… I’m scared to come to the obvious conclusion. I’m more of a guy who likes things spelled out for him directly, rather than having to interpret something and have the possibility of being completely wrong.”

“Okay, fine, I just like you, okay?” TJ snapped, crossing his arms and looking off into the distance. Now Cyrus was the one looking at him while he avoided eye contact. “Like, yeah, I _like_ like you or whatever. Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. I’ll try to get over it or leave you alone if you want.”

“You don’t have to do that!” Cyrus squeaked, feeling a little lightheaded after hearing TJ actually confess to him. “I actually like you too.”

“You don’t have to say that just because you feel bad for me or whatever.” TJ mumbled, still keeping his defensive walls up. “There’s no reason why you would ever like me.”

“What are you talking about, TJ?” Cyrus exclaimed, completely confused. He placed his hand on TJ’s shoulder hoping to warm up his icy exterior but to no avail.

“I’m a jerk, what I did to Buffy was inexcusable and she still hates me for it, and she’s your best friend. _And_ I’m stupid. You deserve better”

“TJ, you have been nothing but nice and helpful to me since you met me, and you had absolutely no reason to be. I know you only acted that way towards Buffy because you were scared and insecure and you’re trying to be a better person now. And you’re most definitely not stupid, you can’t help the way your brain works and once you understand it better you’ll be able to learn how to function to your full potential in no time. I’m so grateful to have you in my life and frankly, I can’t believe you want me in yours.”

“Cyrus, I'll never understand how can you say all that nice stuff about me and insult yourself when you’re a better person than I’ll ever be.”

Cyrus blushed at hearing TJ say his name, it wasn’t something he did often and it made his heart race.

“How about we agree to disagree on these matters?”

“Or maybe we can agree to help each other see ourselves the way we see each other.” TJ paused, “Did that sentence make sense?”

“It did.” Cyrus laughed, his cheeks were starting to ache from grinning, but he didn’t mind. “I think you have a lot to teach me and I’m pretty excited for it.”

“Likewise, Underdog.” TJ replied fondly, grabbing Cyrus’ hand and squeezing tightly. He frowned when he noticed Cyrus rolling his eyes, “What?”

“Nothing, just,” He shook his head, gesturing back towards The Spoon, “they all gasped when you grabbed my hand.”

TJ smirked, turning around to face their friends. Jonah was practically on Andi’s back and Buffy was completely laid out on the table as they craned their necks to spy on the two of them. He waved at them, then lifted his and Cyrus’ joined hands with a thumbs up. They all nodded enthusiastically in response.

“That’s sweet,” TJ said as he turned back to Cyrus, “They really care about you.”

“Hey,” Cyrus scolded light, squeezing TJ’s hand, “they care about you too.”

TJ scoffed, looking down at his lap bashfully.

“I’m serious, even Buffy. They know you’re doing your best and they all really want you to succeed.”  

“Yeah?” It was hard for TJ to believe that but he would probably trust anything that came out to Cyrus’ mouth. Especially when he says it so definitively. “You want to go back in?”

“Yeah, I think you definitely owe me some baby taters.”

* * *

Cyrus was reasonably suspicious when TJ showed up to his house unannounced to escort him to The Spoon. Luckily, he came at a time that his parents weren’t home. Which he later attributed to Buffy, who was waiting outside the front of the restaurant and held the door for Cyrus to go in.

By the time TJ pulled out a chair for Cyrus to sit, he’d had enough.

“What’s going on? Why are you two being super nice to me again?” Cyrus questioned anxiously, “Can you please just be a normal amount of nice?”

“Nothing is going on Underdog, we just… wanted to apologize.” TJ explained sheepishly, looking back at Buffy who was returning from the counter holding a monstrous basket of baby taters.

She nodded solemnly, “Yeah, you should never have to choose between your boyfriend and your sister.” Then suddenly a smirk grew on her face, “But if you ever wanted to… I think we all know who would win.”

“Buffy,” Cyrus warned.

“I know, I know,” She conceded easily, “fortunately for TJ, I would never make you choose. You deserve multiple people in your life who care about you and it’s immature for one of us to try to monopolize all your love, especially when you have so much to give.”

“Thanks Buffy.” He said sincerely, “But honestly, I’m still waiting for everyone to act normal again.”

“Well, you better get used to me, Underdog.” TJ said, sitting down next to Cyrus and throwing an arm around him, pulling his shoulder into TJ’s armpit. “I was holding back before, you haven’t even seen my final form. Boyfriend TJ.”

“Oh, I’m quaking in anticipation.” Cyrus teased, settling in under TJ’s arm quite comfortably. He could get used to this.

“So now I have to watch you two be a gross couple too, huh?” Buffy said, clearly trying to sound exasperated, but she couldn’t help but feel so happy and proud for Cyrus. And maybe even a little bit for TJ, but she’d never admit it.

“Are you implying that we’re in anyway, ever, in  any shape or form, comparable to Jandi?” Cyrus scoffed, “We would mop the floor with them, in like… a couple competition.”

The fondest grin took over TJ’s face, “I’m liking this side of you, Underdog. I think this calls for another bet.”

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I would try to write more than 9k words, but I'm not trying to push this fic further than it needed to go. I already struggled enough with it. The tater theater scene was originally going to be a fic where I talked about how the other kids don't appreciate Cyrus like TJ does, but it wasn't really going anywhere. Then I had the idea of Buffy and TJ competing over Cyrus, which I was VERY excited about. But I was struggling to come up with situations for them to argue over, so I ended up writing the ending then going back to the beginning, then filling out the middle completely out of order. If it at any point doesn't make sense, that's why. I also was going to make this Juffy at first, but then I decided I don't want to give up on my son Marty just yet.


End file.
